Baptism

I've written a lot of religiously oriented sonnets. Some are imitations of scriptural passages, others are meditations on various spiritual matters or items from church history. Maybe I'll try to do a series of "sabbath sonnets" for every Sunday. So here's one:

Baptism

by Gideon Burton

A gray and troubled ocean laps around

my chest, the chilled and murky liquid stings

my limbs, my skin. My heart, a stone, now sounds

another fathom: darkens, quiets, sinks.

Above, the twilight weakly plies the surface,

grows distant; I drop in ashen silt.    

The downward current traps me with its bias,

all color black but this my crimson guilt.

With sudden force, uprushed into the light,

I burst into the breath of boldest day.

By hands unseen, with grappling grace and might,

the murky ice dissolves to passing spray.

   With calming force he warms a chilling soul;

   With arms and warmth revives and makes me whole.

Feel free to copy, imitate, remix, or redistribute this poem as long as you give proper acknowledgment of authorship. Photo: flickr - ant.photos